Dominique Diouf - Canadian Business Ethics Research Network

Dominique Diouf

Graduate Research Assistant, Carleton Centre for Community Innovation (3ci); and PhD Candidate, Laval University

dominique.diouf@gmail.com

Research Area:
Socially responsible investing; SRI; investor choice; investment advisors; ESG

Dominique holds a MA in sociology from the University Gaston Berger of Saint-Louis (Senegal) and a postgraduate degree in the same discipline at the University Cheikh Anta Diop in Dakar (Senegal). He's also a graduate in Management and Human Resources Management from the Institut Supérieur de Management of Dakar (Senegal) where he was a Teaching Assistant for over five years. He is currently completing a Ph.D. in Business Administration at Laval University in Quebec City (QC, Canada). He acquired several years of experiences both in Africa and Canada in the areas of research and teaching in management and consulting in sustainable development. Dominique is a part-time teacher at Laval University and the University of Ottawa (ON, Canada). He is currently conducting a research project in Responsible Investing as part of the Community-University- Research Alliances (CURA) Program (funded by Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council- Canada) at the Carleton Centre for Community Innovation (Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada). He is member of several professional organizations around the world and such as PRI Academy Network, Canadian Sustainability Indicators Network (CSIN), Network of Business Sustainability etc.

Exploring factors that influence social retail investors: Evidence from Desjardins Fund

Abstract
Most studies on the choices, motivations and behavior of investors consist of a segmentation focused on socio-demographic characteristics such as age, income, education level etc. Such approaches seem to simplify, even mutilate, reality by aggregating data about observable variables and considering investors as homogeneous groups. These perspectives are often inspired by a scientific approach that consists of separating to better understand the observed phenomena. By considering individual as a «homo economicus», that is to say, a rational and autonomous individual who makes decisions motivated by material gains, these studies fail to recognize all the complexity that shapes human behavior. Even though more researchers attempt to explore other factors such as those related to psychological aspects or social values, it should be noted that they do not always take into account the multidimensional nature of the observed phenomena. This paper argues that to understand the behavior and choices of investors as regards SRI, we must consider social investors as complex individuals and also take into account the influence that the institution may exercise (thanks to the role of SRI advisors and the other strategies for promoting socially responsible investment). We must also adopt a more open approach by understanding the characteristics and behaviors of individual social investors in relation to those of conventional investors. Our research builds on the theory of complexity framework. According to this theory, the truth must be thought of as a system where there is inter-influence between the whole and the parts. In this perspective, the individual must not only be seen as rational and autonomous, but more as an individual aggregation of overlapping identities. Our research provides evidence from focus Desjardins Fund, with data gathered by Desjardins from online surveys. We subjected the data to bivariate and multivariate analysis. This qualitative methodology is complimented by a series of 10 semi-structured interviews with managers, analysts and advisors. The results show that while demographic characteristics still remain important in understanding the behavior and attitudes of social investors, it is their social values, environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues, financial return considerations and the role played by the institution that are significantly associated with socially responsible investment of the portfolio. Our research highlights the complexity surrounding the phenomenon of SRI and has several implications both in terms of theory and practice.

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